New numbers released from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirm the state's new voter integrity laws, passed last year and signed by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, have juiced record turnout just two weeks away from Election Day. In fact, ballots cast have already rivaled numbers from the 2020 presidential election and it's a midterm year.
"Georgia voters continued to hit record breaking turnout on the first mandatory Saturday of Early Voting. As of Sunday morning, approximately 740K Georgia voters have cast their ballot during in-person Early Voting, with a whopping 79,682 showing up on Saturday, October 22nd. Saturday’s total marks an astounding 159% increase from day six of 2018 midterm Early Voting and shattered the turnout record of day six of Early Voting in the 2020 Presidential election by 20%," Raffensperger's office released. "Georgia has had record Early Voting turnout since the first day of Early Voting this year, surging to nearly twice the number on the first day of Early Voting in 2018. Totals have remained within striking distance of the 2020 Presidential election turnout, and have shattered previous midterm turnout records by 50% or greater during every day of Early Voting this week."
As of this morning, we've seen 837,597 ballots cast in Georgia. 758,808 early in person & 78,789 absentees accepted. That means we should pass the 1 million mark by tomorrow, a full 2 weeks before Election Day. A record numbers of voters for a midterm. #gapol #PlanYourVote pic.twitter.com/8e36qQF9NR
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) October 24, 2022
The numbers confirm early totals put out by Raffensperger's office last week.
We’re continuing to see record turnout throughout the state. Here’s some answers to frequently asked questions about Early Voting: https://t.co/BUdRHkaLpI#GAVotes #GAVotesEarly
— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) October 18, 2022
Our elections team has reviewed the initial early vote numbers for Day 1 and we know we are north of 125,000. This dwarfs the previous record of 72k from the 2018 midterm 1st day of early voting. We will have exact numbers in the morning. #gapol #PlanYourVote
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) October 18, 2022
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has repeatedly claimed new voter integrity laws would suppress voters. In fact, her claims of "Jim Crow 2.0" cost Atlanta the MLB All Star Game last year.
Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, & MLB commissioner Rob Manfred should all apologize to Georgians for spreading the Jim Crow 2.0 lie & costing the Braves the all star game. They lied, as voting data makes clear: pic.twitter.com/qY1wLHtbwh
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 20, 2022